1 charged after NYPD pursuit that ended with crash in Mount Vernon

MOUNT VERNON, New York (WABC) -- A man has been charged following a police pursuit that ended with a violent crash in Mount Vernon Tuesday evening.

Xavier Wilson, 18, of Yonkers, is charged with reckless endangerment, fleeing an officer in a motor vehicle, acting in a manner injurious to a child less than 17, operating a motor vehicle impaired by drugs and reckless driving.

Around 5:30 p.m., a 2014 white Nissan driven by Wilson, came down South Eighth Avenue from the city line, where the New York City Police Department had tried to pull him over for speeding. He crossed into Mount Vernon, slamming into a row of cars, police said.

Cell phone video captured the moment the officers took the driver and a front passenger into custody. They were uninjured.

A woman in the backseat, 34, was not wearing a seatbelt and was taken to Jacobi Medical Center. She is stable. She was holding an unrestrained 2-year-old girl, who suffered just bumps and bruises, and is also stable.

"It is a critical, grave situation and we're very thankful the baby in the back seat was not injured," Richard Thomas, mayor of Mount Vernon.

The neighborhood was shaken by the sudden crash on Tuesday evening. "A lot of commotion, a lot of people running around trying to get the baby out of the car," said Felix Roundy, an eyewitness.

"The car was up in flaming smoke," said Felix Roundy, an eyewitness.